The New England site lies in the heart of Brighton. The 8.6ha site stands next to Brighton’s fine Victorian Railway Station and was originally a series of goods yards that had lain vacant for more than 30 years. Plans in the late 1990s to build a Sainsbury's superstore on the site were refused following a campaign by local community groups. One of the groups argued that the site should be developed as a Sustainable Urban Neighbourhood as advocated by URBED. As a result the developer initially asked us to assess a revised scheme and subsequently to masterplan the site which became URBED's first major private sector masterplan.

The masterplan was developed over the following three years. Incorporating the supermarket into the base of a residential block freed up the majority of the site for a high-density mixed-use development including 261 residential units, a language school with accommodation for 400 students, a four star and a three star hotel, a training centre, health and fitness club, offices, workspace and community uses.

Unfortunately the community opposition to the original scheme did not abate because of the continued presence of the supermarket. The argument turned on whether it was right to defend the status quo of a traditional high street or to accept supermarkets as inevitable and to integrate them into a dense mixed use urban fabric. The scheme is an important model for the integration of large format retailing into urban areas - it is the first time this has been done outside London. It was granted planning consent in 2003 and started on site in 2004.

URBED also prepared a sustainability statement to support the planning application for the quarter. The team explored a range of measures designed to address the environmental sustainability of the scheme - including energy, waste management, transport and water use. URBED explored in detail how the sustainability strategy could be taken forward, initiating negotiations with potential service providers including Thameswey (CHP) and City Car Club (mobility services) and looking at the practical implications for integrating them into the scheme.